70’s Table Redo

When I saw this table many moons ago (as in after 2003, but not sure when) I knew it would fit perfectly in a little space in what is now my daughter’s bathroom.  This room at the time had no storage whatsoever.  We have remodeled this room three years ago this month to convert an can barely fit into half bath that serve no purpose for my family into a shower stall. 

Back to the table.  What I loved most was the lines of the legs and the second little shelf that supports the legs.

Problems:  This table is ugly!  Chiped plastic veneer, need I say more?

The wood veneer on the plywood wasn’t so bad.  So inspired by HGTV Cash and Cari and Salvage Savvy blog I knew I was just a few Google searches and paint cans away to making this a clean white beauty.

Step 1: I filled in as best I could all the chips with wood filler. 

Step 2: I sanded the whole thing down.  I wanted to take the shine off the plastic and poly off the wood.

Step 3: I primed the wood parts only with Kilz primer.  And waited (not so good at this) for it to dry.

Step 4: Then I took my 1 can a plastic paint and covered all the plastic veneer.  I put on 2 coats, allowing it to dry according to the paint instructions.  This however wasn’t enough. 

Side note, it always takes more than you think, so buy the extra can when you have the opportunity.  I didn’t.  We stopped at a few stores with paint that were on our outing the next day to not find the same kind.  Who knew it was only carried at one store in my area.  So instead of going over to that store when it wasn’t on our way, the plastic part didn’t get another coat for a whole week, since that is what the paint instruction said to do.  Patience to get the project done.

Step 5: I used standard for any application spray paint for the wood part.

Here is the table finished.  It’s been a few months now and it’s held up great.  I was concerned because in my search I read it can be very difficult to paint the cheap plastic veneer. 

Yes, that's a plastic bug on the table.  My daughter thinks it's funny.

Minor issues:  I had a few places that buckled the paint.  I not sure what caused this.  The two places it did this were on the same side (perhaps some residue I didn’t sand off?) and that became the back side.

Make sure you paint in a well ventilated area or you’ll be woozy before you know it.